Reward

In the afternoon

Heero had an unexpected guest. Park Haneul, the Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 5.

A Legendary Class Ranker visited the Xing District. The news spread quickly and caused quite a stir in the Star Forum.

Speculation abounded on the Star Forum. It was said that the Ranker Alliance was trying to lure Heero into the Ranker Alliance. Most people knew that this was likely to happen.

After all, the Ranker Alliance was famous for their poaching techniques, and they had been successful many times. But in each case only involved heroes. This was the first time that the Ranker Alliance had attempted to poach a Hero Instructor from the Hero League.

*** ***

The Hero League headquarters, in a certain office.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

Bai Xian Ming's finger tapped on the table as he looked worriedly at the computer screen.

He was reading the number one post, [Legendary Class Ranker - Rank 5, Park Haneul visited Heero Academy! What was he doing there?]

Below the title was a picture of Xing Heero shaking hands with Park Haneul. Heero had his smiley face while Park Haneul was also smiling.

If he did not know that this was the first time Heero met Park Haneul. He might think they were friends.

"Those damn rankers!" Bai Xian Ming cursed. He was clearly annoyed when he read the message.

Creak!

Right after he cursed, the door opened. Bai Shuang'er brought in a tray with a cup of tea.

"Don't worry, Grandpa~ That blockhead won't be moving to the Ranker Alliance," Bai Shuang'er said confidently as she placed the cup of tea on the table.

Bai Xian Ming looked surprised as he turned to his granddaughter, "How do you know that?"

"First of all, this blockhead doesn't like rankers. You could say he hates the rankers. Second, he has everything, wealth, beauty, and power. He lacks nothing, the Ranker Alliance is bound to fail! Third..."

Bai Shuang'er stopped this time. Her brow furrowed as she thought of something.

"What's the third?" Bai Xian Ming asked curiously.

"Third, my sister will not allow this..." Bai Shuang'er said in an unconvinced tone.

"You seem to have no faith in your sister," Bai Xian Ming smiled.

"If that man is a Block Head, then my sister is a piece of dead wood! I doubt she can convince that Block Head to stay..."

"But never mind, the third point is unnecessary. The first two points are enough. That Blockhead will definitely stay in the Hero League!" Bai Shuang'er walked over to the sofa and sat down.

"You are a lady, show respect to your elder!" Bai Xian Ming rolled his eyes at his daughter.

"By the way, how do you know that Heero hates the Rankers?"

The old man was curious. He had never heard of a conflict between the Rankers and Heero. So where did this hatred come from?

"Oh, my boyfriend told me! He told me not to worry because his master hates the Rankers!" Bai Shuang'er waved her smartwatch at the old man, showing her loving conversation with her boyfriend.

Bai Xian Ming also smiled when her granddaughter mentioned her boyfriend.

The stress and worries were alleviated when he was with his youngest granddaughter.

"Huhu... You should respect your future brother-in-law more. You can't call him Blockhead, okay?"

Even though the sentence was meant to reprimand the girl, Bai Xian Ming said it with a broad grin. He was obviously happy with the way things were going with his two granddaughters.

*** ***

Just as her little sister had predicted, Bai Xin Yue rushed back to the academy.

Even though she knew the article on the forum was the work of the Ranker Alliance, she could not help but worry. She rushed over to convince Heero to stay in the Hero League.

After all, if Park Haneul wanted to leave secretly or unnoticed, no reporter could notice him, let alone take a picture.

It was clearly a deliberate attempt to cause trouble or sour the relationship between Heero and the Hero League by having a private meeting with a Legendary Class Ranker.

When Bai Xin Yue arrived at the academy, she saw Park Haneul coming out of the academy. Heero was also there to see Park Haneul off.

Both of them were smiling, as if the conversation had gone smoothly or they had even reached an agreement. Somehow this made Bai Xin Yue a little panicky.

She did not want Heero to leave the Hero League and join the Ranker Alliance. If that happened, the next time they met, it would be as competitors.

Bai Xin Yue did not want that to happen. She did not want to lose Heero. The girl picked up the pace.

"Good afternoon, Miss Xin Yue..." Park Haneul greeted her, but it was a bit unfortunate as she ignored him.

Bai Xin Yue ran towards the Heero. As soon as she arrived in front of Heero, she hugged him and begged with a slightly trembling voice, "Don't leave me! Please don't leave me!

Park Haneul turned around and saw the scene. A bitter smile appeared on his face. He turned and left the academy.

When he arrived outside the academy, he unlocked his smartwatch and called out an ID, Leader.

"Leader! Plan A has failed, let's go to plan B!" Park Haneul made his report.

Heero had not yet declined the offer, but when he saw Bai Xin Yue, he hugged Heero. Park Haneul immediately realized that the chance of recruiting Heero to their side was nil, so he reported that Plan A had failed.

"Understood!" A soft voice sounded through the smartwatch and the call was then disconnected.

*** ***

Heero was in an awkward position. He wanted to push the girl away, but looking at her condition, he decided not to.

"W-what did you say? I-I'm not going anywhere..." Heero's voice was quite stiff as he spoke.

"Really? You're not lying, are you?" A muffled voice sounded from his chest.

"Mnn, I am not leaving. Where did you hear that?" Heero was quite confused inside. Out of nowhere, the girl had rushed back and begged him not to leave. He was confused by all this.

Only then did Bai Xin Yue release the embrace. Her face flushed and refused to meet Heero's eyes. She lowered her head and unlocked her smartwatch, then showed a post on the forum.

"It's pretty quick. That guy is really Park Haneul..." Still confused, Heero tried to explain what had actually happened, but the girl cut him off.

"I know who he is. I just wanted to know what he was doing here."

"Come! Follow me to my office."

*** ***

Inside the office, Heero handed a document to Bai Xin Yue as he explained, "He was trying to recruit me into the Ranker Alliance. This is the contract they offered me! It's a billion dollars a year. It's quite tempting for a poor block like me."

Heero tried to joke around to lighten the atmosphere between them. But not only did he not lighten the atmosphere, he made it more intense.

He received a sharp look from the girl. Her onyx-black eyes stared at him intensely.

"All right! All right! I haven't rejected the contract yet. I say I will think about it, but I intend to refuse their offer. I said it like that so that this guy would not be offended. I don't want any unwanted trouble to disturb my peaceful life!"

Heero explained in detail what had happened between him and Park Haneul and cleared the girl's doubts.

He would never agree to exchange his Ki Comprehension for money. The Ranker Alliance had boldly asked him to share all his secret techniques when he joined them.

There was no way he would agree to such a condition.

After hearing this, the girl smiled. The smile was enough to send Heero into a daze, mesmerised by the smile.

Bai Xin Yue rose from the sofa and approached the dazed Heero. She tiptoed over and planted a kiss on Heero's lips.

Again, Heero was stunned by her action. To his surprise, the girl boldly stuck her tongue into his mouth. Their tongues intertwined inside.

Just as Heero was about to react, Bai Xin Yue cleverly pulled back and distanced herself from Heero.

Her face was flushed, but her beautiful smile was still there. Embarrassed but happy.

"This is the reward from me~,"

After saying that, the girl rushed out of the room to escape the embarrassment. Leaving Heero dazed.

"Hah... I seem to have fallen..." Heero muttered as he tried to taste the aftertaste in his mouth.

"It's a bit sweet..."